The Week In Games: Nicky Boom

Nicky Boom is a port of a famous Amiga platform game. It's one of those games that makes me wish I had an Amiga back in the day. (I still remember that trip I made to Warren Radio in Peoria, IL back in the 80s and they just happened to have an Amiga on display. It almost seemed like a magical experience. Where have all the good times gone?)

This is the first I've ever heard of the game, which is slightly surprising since it seems well ahead of its time. It's one of those fast-paced platform scrollers full of running, jumping, bouncing, picking up goodies, killing bad guys, grabbing keys, using teleporters, and even boosting your character's skills. Graphically, of course, the sprite-based visuals are not quite cutting edge and look like something from the late 80s or early 90s. Still, they're pretty good and probably on-par with many of the "modern" platform scrollers on today's Pocket PCs. This particular port seems pretty well done, with great speeds, smooth animation, and no clunkiness that I can detect.

The game has a nice rhythm and pacing that holds your interest will likely keep you hooked from beginning to end. Although I didn't play the game all the way through, this title doesn't seem to have many dull moments. This version even has the ability to save your game no matter where you are in the levels. Even for those of us who've never heard of the game, Nicky Boom is a port that nevertheless holds up pretty well even today. And thanks to the quality of the conversion, it's able to avoid feeling clunky and dated.

FYI - the main reason I just registered to post was so that I could ask why there are never links to the websites for these software reviews - what gives? As it is I have to copy/paste into my google search bar and hit enter and then click another link in the results... that seriously cuts into my slacking off time here! ;-)

Seriously though I'd love to see just a simple link to the reviewed item's website. I'm way more likely to give something a try when it's right there for me to click through and download!